St. Landry democrat., 1887-09-24
A THEATRE HORROR.
ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY LIVES
LOST IN A FIRE.
The Royal Theatre at Exeter, England,
Burns During IL Performance Attended
by Eight Hundred People An Insufh-
Gent Number of Exits the Cause.


by Eight Hundred People An Insutfi-
cient Number of Exits the Cause.
England has been the scene of the
latest theatre horror. At Exeter, the
Royal Theatre has been destroyed by fire
and $40 persons persisted in the flames
The play being presented was "Romany
Rye and the house was crowded mostly
with working people, and everything
was all right until the end of the third
act, at 1890, when a drop scene fell, and
in moment the whole stage was on fire.
A wild panic ensued. The occupants of
the stalls, pit and dress circle escaped
after a dreadful crushing, many being
badly bruised. 1t was in the galleries
that the people suffered most. There
was only one exit from this part OF the
building, and the crush was terrific.
The fire blazed tiercely, lighting up the
whole city. People were soon Hooking
to the scene in thousands inquiring for
friends. The scene inside the theatre
when the fire broke out was a. awful
one. Some men implored the fence
to be cool, but it was impossible to check
the frantic rush. The theatre hose was
brought into use in few minutes, but
the water had little effect on the flames.
The actors and actresses were taken
from the windows with the aid Of lad
ders They lost everything except what
III ha
Gus reports as to the origin of the fire
1t is only certain that the flames broke
out in the scene-shifters' department.
Those who escaped say that the special
exit was promptly opened. The ire
brigade arrived five minutes after the
breaking out of the flames, but the
efforts of the iremen were without
effect. There were several thrilling
rescues. The fire was not gotten under
control until the next morning at five
o'clock.
1t has been ascertained that there were
200 persons occupying seats in the gal
lerv, and of these over 100 lost their
lives. The search for bodies still goes
on and several more have been taken
from the ruins The charred remains of
twenty persons were discovered in one
heap. \ mother, father and child were
found clasped in one embrace All three
had been burned to death. 1t is very
probable that the total number of deaths
will never be ascertained, owing to the
fact that many of the bodies were COM
pletely calcined. Two stalls of a stable
belonging to hotel adjacent to the thea
ire are filled with remains that it is i'm
possible to identify Most of the killed
were adults and chiefly men. Only a
few children persisted. The municipal
authorities held special meeting and
arranged for the interment of all
unidentified bodies. In nearly every
case the clothing had been torn off the
victims, from many of the bodies limbs
were missing and the remains showed
evidence that they had been wrenched
off Several whole families, numbering
from two to five persons, lost their lives.
The construction of the gallery stair
case accounts for the great loss of life
among the gallery people. Half way
down the flight there was a sharp angle.
The first persons who left the gallery got
past this safely, but several Of those who
followed were throwndown and jammed
into the angle, and were unable to eXtri-
cate themselves owing to the pressure
from behind. The staircase at this point
was thus effectually blocked, and there
was no other means of escape A scene
shifter says the fire originated among
some gauze, which in some way became
ignited. The flames spread to the scenery,
of which the stage was unusually full,
owing to the preparation in progress for
the production of a pantomime. The
audience numbered 800 persons.
The structure burned was the Theatre
Royal. 1t was built after the latest de-
signs and was deliberately fitted, being
considered one of the prettiest in the
kingdom 1t is somewhat remarkable
that the Royal Theatre at Exeter was
twice destroyed by fire, as was the Ring
/ Theatre, Vienna, before at last the terri
BILE calamity came which had in both in
stances been twice foreshadowed. In
answer to Sir John Puleston, Home Sec
rotary Matthews said in Parliament that
the government had no jurisdiction over
provincial theatres that they were under
the supervision of the county authorities.
He added that in view of the horrible
calamity at Exeter the government would
soon suggest measure which would go
so far as human forethought could to
prevent recurrence of similar disasters.